1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns an automatic dispensing machine and the related operating method, in particular an automatic dispensing machine, and its operating method, for distributing edible and/or non-edible goods, especially packaged food such as snacks, sandwiches, beverages in bottles or cans, etc., and/or for preparing and dispensing edible goods, not packaged, such as hot or cold drinks, water, juices, coffee, milk and the like.
2. Background of the Invention
Such dispensing machines are normally arranged to operate at unattended locations, such as those provided within railway stations, airports, public/private offices, hotel reception-halls, etc., and also at attended locations, where trained staff is available to run the machine for serving the customers. The dispensing machines of the aforesaid type may also be provided at “Do-It-Yourself” areas, such as the areas not available to the general public (but only to “internal” public) provided within restaurants, self-serving catering sites, cafeterias or food and grocery stores, to be operated directly by the user. The unpackaged goods may be delivered in paper or plastic cups, as well as in mugs, porcelain cups and similar receptacles available to the customers or provided by the customer.
Traditional dispensing machines intended to be operated directly by the customer may allow payments by cash, for instance coins or banknotes, or may require identification of the user, so as to allow electronic payments. Alternatively dispensing machines may operate in a so-called “free-vend” mode, that is without need of establishing an economic transaction or identification of the user.
Identification is normally accomplished by providing the user with an electronic token, for instance a credit/debit card, a smart card, a RFID tag, an electronic key.
Generally, basic user interfaces are provided with mechanical buttons for actuating micro-switches or electro-mechanical components of the machine, such as membrane panels. Selections are made by the user pushing the button corresponding to his/her preference. Pressing of the button causes the control unit to operate the machine according to the user's choice. Other simple user interfaces comprise a LCD screen which shows alphanumeric or graphic frames. Usually the frames shown to the user contain information related to the available goods, i.e. advertising related to the kind and quality of goods available, or ancillary instructions or information concerning the state of the machine, but the user has to make the selection by pressing the aforesaid mechanical buttons. Patent application US 2007/0018972 discloses a dispensing machine provided with a visual interface for the user. The interface comprises a screen for displaying attractive information to the user(s), but selections have to be made by means of a traditional button-panel provided with a number of buttons corresponding to available selections. Patent application WO 2004/036509 discloses a beverage dispensing machine provided with a traditional user interface comprising a control panel to be operated by the user. The panel has a screen on which brewing instructions are displayed. Advertising may be shown on the same screen.
Recently, more sophisticated interfaces have been provided to sense movements made by users to input specific commands to the dispensing machine control unit. Such interfaces are optical and provide, for instance, infra-red sensors to detect the user's body position with respect to the areas which can be scanned by the same sensors.
Alternatively, modern user interfaces may have resistive sensors to detect the resistance provided by the user's body. Such resistance triggers the control unit which activates according to a single selection made by the user.
Available dispensing machines are still limited to simple user interfaces or control panels which do not permit customization or a stricter interaction with the user, while the need is felt for more effective solutions which allow for an improved interaction with users and at the same time are versatile so as to meet the expectations of a great number of customers worldwide.
Recently dispensing machines have been provided with graphic-user-interfaces, or GUIs, having touch-screens. The user can make or confirm a selection by pressing a virtual button displayed on the touch-screen. Such virtual buttons simply replicate traditional mechanical buttons without improving effectiveness of the machine. Disadvantageously, such solutions have proved to be expensive, in that touch screens are more expensive and fragile than a traditional button panel. Both capacitive and resistive sensors may operate under the transparent panel of a graphic display, for instance a LCD or a plasma screen, to allow the user to input a specific command using for instance his/her finger and pressing one virtual button. A graphic background is provided to communicate with the user. WO 2007/003990 discloses a similar dispensing machine having a touch-screen providing the required function buttons, including an area where a finger movement sensor is provided to adjust e.g. the amount of sugar.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,759,072 discloses a vending machine provided with a GUI showing predetermined beverage selection icons that correspond to the formulation saved by the user or corresponding to the preferred beverage formulations of the user. Alternatively, the same formulations are shown to every user and are changed according to the time of the day, season, weather and the like.
WO 01/03087 discloses a vending machine of the above mentioned type, in which there is provided a program that displays messages on the display to promote some products rather than other ones, e.g. instead of the product selected by the user, another product is proposed by the machine. This is clearly a good method of annoying the user.
EP 0823696 discloses a vending machine having a display to show the products and wherein the non-available products are not shown on the screen of the display.
Use of sophisticated GUIs, for instance LCD screens and multimedia content including moving images, with dispensing machines is still considered disadvantageous, in that such GUIs are relatively expensive, compared with control panels having traditional simple buttons, such as those described in WO 98/16892, and have not been proven to improve business, i.e. they have not been proved to attract customers and improve selling of goods and products.
Another drawback of known machines is that user interfaces do not take part into the processes of diagnosis carried out by the control unit. An increase in maintenance costs has been recently experienced by the manufacturers and the managers of the dispensing machines, in that the same machines often require recurring technical back-up on the operating site. Particularly, machines for dispensing food and edible goods such as hot or cold beverages require maintenance of some components, for instance because of built-up of food residues which rapidly deteriorate when in contact with air, lime-scale obstructions, limited life-spans, etc. Normally the control unit performs periodical auto-diagnosis routines for checking proper functioning of all the parts of the machine. The user cannot intervene through the related interface.
WO 2007/012949 discloses a process for monitoring operation of a dispensing machine. If malfunctioning or failure of one or more components is detected by the control unit, the user interface is controlled so as to inhibit one or more selections (initially available to the user), i.e. one or more buttons, corresponding to the good which cannot be dispensed.
There is therefore the need to improve the traditional ways of operating dispensing machines even the more recent machines having a graphic user interface display. There is moreover the need for a system to increase the number of functions made available through the dispenser's GUI, at the benefit of its users, wishing to benefit from the additional user friendliness brought by a high definition graphic display. It is further needed a GUI that allows a simple method of programming and storing the several conditions triggering a change in the visual appearance of the GUI to the end user, as the owner of the dispenser may see fit.
It is also needed a method to channel the information of these triggering conditions remotely to the dispenser, as well as to remotely monitor the occurrence of these triggering conditions as received from the dispenser. A further problem in the face of the prior art documents is to provide a system of improving the revenue from a vending machine without jeopardizing the user-friendliness of the same.